Language and Social Position Essay -- Expository Essays

Language and Social PositionAs I sat in my never-all-that-comfortable seat at the theater to watch Titanic for the second snip on the big screen, a thought quite alien came over me good usage in language. This film, based on the 1912 disaster, went to the extremes on details to arrive everything about it convey the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The language of the film was scripted as best to the year 1912 as was the model make of the ship itself. The film showed the language of both the upper crust (nobility of America) and the lower class of different nations of the world. Concentrating on the educated, monied, upper-class, their language was so pure, concise, and definitive. The best compositors case that I can quote from the film was a line from young Rose, when trying to get it through her thick-skulled, snobbish mothers head that there were not nice boats for everyone on board, in fact less than half of the passengers would get a spot on a lifeboat. She say s to her mother, Not enough by half In four words, Rose has said what would have taken me at least ten words to say in our modern language usage, something similar to at that place are not enough boats for even half of the people Not enough by half is a phrase I easily comprehended, just I have never heard a phrase so worded in my life (in contemporary conversations, dialogue, speeches, etc.). It reminds me more of diction in writings from the past, that authors such as Shakespeare or Benjamin Franklin may have used. Why isnt a phrase like Not enough by half used nowadays in modern American English? This phrase is clear, concise and is not difficult to say. Robert Hall would probably praise such a phrase as a fine example of good usage. It ... ...ldve thought groovy and crazy, man would have made a comeback, huh? Language usage should not be the meter by which we judge one another. Language was created to communicate, and shouldnt we communicate in the easiest and most efficie nt manner? We should heed Robert Halls advice and make the rules of good usage based on the most efficient way of saying (hand-out) govern our language usage. However, in reality, it seems that William Tanners thoughts creep into our opinion of good usage and connect it with genial etiquette, thereby creating judgments of social class and distinction based on one anothers speech. We, as listeners and speakers, need to make a conscious decision to stop judgment of others based on language usage and to start to become followers of Hall (well call ourselves Halloons), and make our language clear, concise and efficient.

Marranos: A Lost People :: essays research papers

Marranos A Lost PeopleSome people might send for them saucy Jews, some untested Christians, and otherscall them Marranos. The majority of the world population has no idea who theMarranos are. To begin to explain these secret people, one must first receive alesson in human race History. We will begin in the 1492.     In school, we are brainwashed to connect the grade 1492 with the yearthat Columbus discovered the New World. Yet, if we look at the year 1492, thereare other occurrences which are noneworthy. For instance, in the year 1492,Spain, the country which sent Columbus to America, decided to officially expelthe Jews from Spain. The Jews were forced to either channel Spain, convert toCatholicism, or be put to death. This was not a surprise to the Jews of Spain.Since 1931, there had been anti-Jewish riots throughout Spain. For years, theJews had been converting to Christianity to escape religious persecution. TheseJews were called conversos. The twist to this tale is that these conversosactually were exactly putting on a front. They still considered themselves Jews.They practiced in secret.1 The Spanish made every attempt to search out andpunish these conversos. Some Jews chose not to convert and they moved toPortugal. . Unfortunately, Portugal, in 1497, expelled the Jews from its bordersas well. Anti-semitism was growing in Western Europe and the Jews needed toescape. The prime choice seemed to be so obvious. The Jews went to the New World.     The immigration of the Marranos to the new world might have begun withnone other than Christopher Columbus. This, of course, is not definite, butthere has been research which has shown that Columbus was indeed a Marrano. on the face of it his parents were Marranos.2 Even though there are some disagreementsabout this fact, there is strong evidence to support the claim that Columbus wasJewish.As the Marranos arrived in the New World, they were not able to revealtheir secr et identities and practice as Jews. This was because the Spanishgovernment established inquisition offices in the New World. These offices soleresponsibility was to range down Marranos and bring them to justice. Theinquisitors had to visit every town once a year and gather evidence of "non-believers" of the church. They would reward anyone who came forth withinformation. The information could be long time old or forty years old, it made nodifference to the Inquisitors. The punishments for being caught were varied,never merciful. The mildest form of punishment was Scourging. This was when thevictim was forced to strip to the stem in public and receive hundreds of lashes.

Essays --

Ratliff 1Kohlten C. RatliffMrs. BralockBritish Literature12 December 2013The Game of Baseball When you think about the game of baseball, you think about the most remembered baseball player Jackie Robinson because he stole more bases than I stole hearts. The game of baseball was created sometime in the 1800s and has been played ever since. Baseball is a major sport and it is apart of a circuit of the cultures in the world. The United States of America and Cuba are two of the top 2 countries that have a lot of players go to the MLB. The game of baseball was first played on sandlot and now is being played in huge stadiums that have large capacities. Baseball is a sport that can be watched for fun and doesnt necessarily have to be played. There have been many names for baseball like finishing ball, Round ball, Fletch-ball, and Stool ball. Baseball is a cousin to Cricket because it involves two teams that alternate on offense and defense. Alexander Cartwright invented the modern baseball stadium in 1845 and he was from New York. New York is where a game called Town ball was created, traces show that it was a game similar to baseball. Cartwright got the idea of making money from mountain coming to watch players play on a field other than the street form Town ball. Alexander Cartwright is known as the founder of baseball because of his idea of turning Town ball into an organized sport.Ratliff 2 Traces of a game played with a bat and a ball dates back 2,000 historic period ago in ancient Egypt. Egyptians were crafty raft and craved a stick out of stone and hit rocks with it. That game was a pharaohs deary game to play and he was buried with it in his tome. When some researchers with into the pharaohs tome they found a... ...rough at him. When Jackie first went to the major league they call him names while he was playing and the pitchers where trying to hit him with the ball. When the American people saw how good a black man could play, more and more black people were allowed to total the major league. In conclusion baseball has become a big part to the society not only does it bring people together, but the people who actually love baseball enjoys to watch it. Baseball became an entertainment sport to people around the world and has many types like softball for girls. Some of the superlative minds are people who play baseball because you always have to think when playing it. There have been many legends in baseball that people looking up to and inspire young people in the world today to want to learn about the game. Everyone can play it whether they play it professional or amateur.

Othello’s Diabolism Essay -- Othello essays

Othellos Diabolism In Shakespeares tragedy Othello, there is present through most of the play such an overwhelming amount of worthless that the audience can scarcely remain undisturbed. Alvin Kernans Othello an Introduction ex field of battles the diabolism existing under the name of honest Iago Honest Iago conceals beneath the exterior of the plain soldier and blunt, practical man of the world a diabolism so intense as to defy rational explanation it must be taken like lust or pride as simply a given part of human nature, an anti-life spirit which seeks the destruction of everything outside the self. (75) Even the imagination in the drama has its evil aspect. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare Othello, explains the instances of diabolic imagery in the play as they relate to the infecting of the Moor by the ancient The like transference from Iago to Othello may be observed in what S. L. Bethell called diabolic imagery. He estimated that of the 64 ima ges relating to hell and damnation many of them are allusions rather than strict images Iago has 18 and Othello 26. But 14 of Iagos are used in the first two Acts, and 25 of Othellos in the last three. The theme of hell originates with Iago and is transferred to Othello only when Iago has succeeded in infecting the Moor with his jealousy. (22) In his book of literary criticism, Shakespearean Tragedy, A. C. Bradley gives an in-depth analysis of the brand of evil which the ancient personifies Iago stands supreme among Shakespeares evil characters because the greatest intensity and spook of imagination have gone to his making, and because he illustrates in the most perfect combination th... ... 1996. http//www.eiu.edu/multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wayne, Valerie. Historical Differences Misogyny and Othello. The Matter of Difference Materialist womens liberationist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press, 1991. Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada University of Toronto Press, 1957. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. The Engaging Qualities of Othello. Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p. Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957. -- -- --. Introduction. The Folger Library General endorsers Shakespeare The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. New York Washington Square Press, 1957.

Baseball at The University of Florida :: Sports Perry Field McKethan Stadium Essays

Baseball at The University of FloridaWhile being recruited by various colleges for baseball, I had to decide on a program with a great athletic, academic, and buff supported background. I chose the University of Florida because of their great athletic success in the past ten years and all of their well-equipped facilities. I never took a recruiting visit to the University of Florida, so when I first arrived to Gainesville and saw the baseball field for the first time I was amazed. The field looked as if it were a professional stadium. Whether you enjoy watching baseball or not, there is always something interesting happening at the ballpark. There atomic number 18 usually media personal conducting interviews, or fresh peanuts are being roasted, or a father and son are having a catch on the side of the field. Students also gather here and study or just assist come out of the closet. Just as many people know, baseball is Americas pastime and the ballpark is where a family ca n come together, socialize, and have fun.The ballpark, also cognise as McKethan Stadium/Perry Field, is located in between the OConnel center and the soccer field/track. To gain entrance into the field, there are two oversized glass doors for athletes to enter through captured in picture 1. This leads towards the locker rooms, dugouts, and trainers room. Fans are prohibited from entering these doors, which is blocked off by gage guards during games. This gives a sense of feeling that even college athletes are protected like professionals. Fans enter the stadium on a ramp towards the bleachers past the box office. This keeps the fans low control and away from the athletes. The outskirt of the stadiums landscape brings on a sense of beauty and security. A 6-foot metal fight encloses the stadium. Beyond the fence there are large palm trees and shrubbery surrounding the batting cages. This is illustrated in picture 2. The fence and plants serve as a way to keep non-ticket holders out of the stadium. This gives the field a sense of security. Because of the stadiums location in the middle of the campus, it is easy access for anyone to attend games. Across the street from the stadium are apartment-like dorms where students can watch the games from their window.

Baseball at The University of Florida :: Sports Perry Field McKethan Stadium Essays

Baseb alone at The University of FloridaWhile being recruited by various colleges for baseball, I had to decide on a program with a great athletic, academic, and fan supported background. I chose the University of Florida because of their great athletic success in the past ten years and all of their well-equipped facilities. I never took a recruiting visit to the University of Florida, so when I first arrived to Gainesville and saw the baseball field for the first time I was amazed. The field looked as if it were a professional stadium. Whether you enjoy watching baseball or not, there is always something interesting happening at the ballpark. There are usually media private conducting interviews, or fresh peanuts are being roasted, or a father and son are having a catch on the side of the field. Students also store up here and study or just hang out. Just as many people know, baseball is Americas pastime and the ballpark is where a family can come together, socialize, and h ave fun.The ballpark, also known as McKethan Stadium/Perry Field, is located in between the OConnel center and the soccer field/track. To compass entrance into the field, there are two large glass doors for athletes to enter through captured in picture 1. This leads towards the locker rooms, dugouts, and trainers room. Fans are forbidden from entering these doors, which is blocked off by security guards during games. This gives a sense of feeling that even college athletes are protected like professionals. Fans enter the stadium on a ramp towards the bleachers past the box office. This keeps the fans under control and away from the athletes. The outskirt of the stadiums landscape brings on a sense of peach and security. A 6-foot metal fence encloses the stadium. Beyond the fence there are large palm trees and shrubbery surrounding the batting cages. This is illustrated in picture 2. The fence and plants fare as a way to keep non-ticket holders out of the stadium. This gives the field a sense of security. Because of the stadiums location in the middle of the campus, it is easy rile for anyone to attend games. Across the street from the stadium are apartment-like dorms where students can watch the games from their window.

Create an Innovation

Innovation Is the process of translating an Idea or invention Into a good or service that creates value or for which customers testament pay (www. Observationally. Com, 2014). In this paper, the identification of an innovation, and plan for implementing the innovation, in the current workplace that I am working for, will be described in full detail. The innovational harvest-festival that will be Introduced to the workplace Is called the independence walker. How many Individuals deposit tired of slating good deal all day at a desk?Another complaint that is heard, quite often inside the organizations is, l am overweight and I do not brook the time to make it to the gym. Well, straight here is the perfect solution. Freedom footer will give Individuals the opportunity to either, remain seated at the desk while working or they can chose to get up and fetch to exercise at the pace they feel most comfortable. The high-quality product will be made to last and it will give employ ees the liberty of exercising while working (Treadles, 2014). Freedom Walker Is going to solely be Intended to run in slow speeds.One of the great things about this product is that unlike regular treadwheels. He Freedom Walker will not overheat (Treadles. 2014). For which, giving individuals an unlimited measure of time to be on the treadmill while working. The control gore can be placed on top of each employees desk. And will have a 10-inch cord connected to the decorate and the Freedom Walker. On the control panel, employees will be able to see how long they have been walking. The employee will also be able to keep cut through of the amount of calories that be macrocosm loss with the freedom walker.The Freedom Walker will also have an attached Emergency cord that all individuals who intake this product must wear while in action. The Emergency cord Is In case of any emergency, the employee will be able to shut the gondola off The Freedom Walker also comes with a strong ru bber mat that should be placed on top of the tread, to reduce the sound and forfend distraction (Treadles, 2014). The speed of this product will not go in a higher place 4. 0 MPH (Treadles, 2014). The reason that the machine will not go above the speed of 4. Is to avoid distractions on the ph genius with customers, such as loss of breath or Incorrect grammar spelling on the computer because of not being able to concentrate. For safety of each employee, the aching is limited to 4. 0 MPH. The Freedom Walker will not have much assembly required. The control panel is connected to the treadmill, Just simply connect the OFF The design will begin with the CEO and upper management, and thence will of course go down the list for each individual within the organization.It is a proven fact that the corpulency rate within the United States has more than doubled in adults and children since sasss (Food question and Action Center, 2014). The leading public health problem within the United Sta tes is obesity (Food Research and Action Center, 2014). Without any discrimination, the majority of the employees within the organization that this innovative idea will be implemented in, are overweight. Below is the chart from the Food Research and Action Report that shows the percentages of each ethnicity and at what percentage they are overweight.How can it be possible that a Health restitution caller-up is selling insurance, but have the employees unhealthy and overweight? There is going to be a weekly goal that each individual will write-out for himself or herself when using the Freedom Walker. The organization will have to see some pillow slip of improvement in all employees. If, thither is no improvement seen thin several weeks, then disciplinary action will be enforced. Once there is improvement noticed, that is when the organization will begin to offer incentives. The incentive that will be granted is that the company will pay for half, of each individuals health insuran ce premium.This could definitely guarantee success, especially now and days that health insurance premiums are so expensive. The impact that this innovative process will have within the organization is going to be drastic. This will not only help the employees but will also help the customers as well. The innovation process, will book employees to take stand about prolonged seated. Researcher suggest that prolonged sitting is bad for ones health (Neoprene, 2013). There have been scientists that compare prolonged sitting to smoking (Neoprene, 2013).The Freedom Walker should help every individual begin to feel fit and begin to have a more positive positioning (Neoprene, 2013). This change in attitude and in oneself, innovation process is going to be an incremental innovation. As stated above the process will begin with the CEO and upper management. Once the change is seen in hose areas, then the process will begin to trickle down the totem pole as it has been heard. So, as the arti cle states by the incremental innovation web page, Slow and Steady Wins the Race (Innovation Management fraternity for Practitioners, 2014). incremental change is not about devising a change happen instantly (Innovation Management Community for Practitioners, 2014). The reason incremental innovation is so popular, is because it has reduced risk in comparison to cornerstone innovation (Innovation Management Community for Practitioners, 2014). Furthermore, once a equines has a manufactured good up and running it tends to have built up substantial amount of human capital and competencies so the business may as well dedicate time to creating it better or reducing costs (Innovation Management Community for Practitioners, 2014).Four Stages of the Research Cycle There will be seven steps to the innovation process and they are 1 . Thinking, 2. Portfolio Management and Metrics, 3. Research 4. Insight, 5. Innovation Development, 6. marketing Development, 7. Selling (Morris, 2013). The wa y that the innovation will be measured will be R&D Impact = Gross Margin / R&D Spend This is an old Bill Hewlett and David Packard metric they used to guarantee suitable return for the R&D effort being invested (McKinney, 2010). Why gross margin, one would ask? McKinney, 2010) The assumption is that if you assemble a better mouse trap, the customer will reward you with a margin premium which will show up in gross margin (McKinney, 2010). Target Assess your competitors and you want to be in top quartile (McKinney, 2010). Innovation takes time and dedication. In order for a company to be successful in the implementation of an innovation there needs to be, a lot of research and date corded. An innovative idea cannot Just be something that someone brings up and it happens.There has to be comparisons to other products and reports showing the business/organization why that innovative idea would be better than any other idea. The Freedom Walker would be a great innovative idea because it would help save the lives of many people who may be struggle with health issues due to weight problems. I believe that not only should the company that I am currently working for, use the innovative idea, but that all companies that have customer service representatives. Customer Services Representatives are mandated to sit at their desk for 8-10 hours a day without being allowed to move from the chair.Production and quality is something that is counted against the individuals who do move from his/ her chair, which then causes disciplinary action. This is an act that is inhumane and I believe that something should be done about it. So, everyone that has a business with CARS and Data Reps. Let try Freedom Walker and lets see how great of an impact it will have on not only the company but on the employees as well. References childhood and adult obesity in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 8(31 1), 806-814. Food Research and Action Center. 2014). Overw eight and Obesity in the U. S.. Retrieved from afar. Org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/ obesity-in-the-us/ Innovation Management Community for Practitioners. (2014). Incremental Innovation. Retrieved from http//www. Unconventionalitys. Com/ incremental-innovation/incremental-innovation-vs.-radical-innovation McKinney, P. (2010). Can you measure the impact for innovation. Retrieved from philharmonic. Com. Archives/2010/02/can-you-measure-the-impact-from- innovation. HTML Morris, L. (2013). How to Innovate The Innovation Process.Retrieved from http//www. Environmentalists. SE. /2013/08/08/how-t()-innovate-the- innovation-process Neoprene, L. (2013). Stand Up for Better Health? Maybe Not. Better-health-maybe-not/ Reynolds, G. (2011). Rethinking the Exercise Talk prove. Retrieved from well. Blobs. Anytime. Com/2011109/21 rethinking-the-exercise-talk-test/? _pH=true=blogs=o Treadles. (2014). Retrieved from http// www. Treadles. Com/products/ www. Objectifications. Com. (2014). Innovati on. Retrieved from http//www. Objectifications. Com/definition/innovation. HTML

High maintenance intensive gardens Essay

Located primarily in the southern region of the United States, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, ColorTech is a privately held smart square off that grows and supplies annual and perennial f modesters to big-box stores. Some of its clients include Walmart and Home Depot. They rented greenhouse space in other US cities to be able to pilele special orders, with greenhouses in the North which helped them provide region specific and seasonal plants. ColorTech profits had been consistently dropping due to a switch over in the market and indus pass judgment.A saturated market and a shift away from water and high importanttenance intensive gardens, along with increased expense competition argon the major reasons why we have seen a loss in profits for ColorTech. Demands for lowering prices and very costly customizations from the big-box stores made ColorTech sluice more than exposed than other competitors. As map of its growth strategy and an effort to generate additional revenue, ColorTech recently acquired a Colombian company specialized in cut lighters, and quickly became one of the largest growers in North and South America.Character profiles-genus genus genus genus genus genus genus Melissa Richardson- She is the main character in this case study. Melissa was the top gross gross sales performer in Chicago before her recent promotion to sales manager of the Phoenix office. Melissa is excited and eager to step into this position, hoping that her previous buzz off and success draw in out be able to help the struggling Phoenix office reach successful. She has no previous manager experience, but has taken anxiety training courses which helped her learn about some of her duties. Beth Campbell- She is the Regional gross revenue manager for ColorTech.Beth is very absent from this story and does non provide the support to Melissa that she con tilts. Campbell appears to be very busy and does non communicate expectations with Melissa well. Ale x Hoffman- He is an account representative, and has been with the company for 8 years. He is the top salesperson in the unblemished company. He is very dismissive in his attitude towards Melissa. He does not appear to accept her as his manager. He might be having some feelings of jealousy natural out of the fact that he whitethorn have considered himself qualified for the manager position. Alex has no interest in selling the cut flowers portion of the business and impart only make up on his own terms.Gregorio Torres- Torres, also an account representative, has been with the company the longest, 12 years. His sales numbers are below average. During his first encounter with Melissa, he was more interested in discussing his idea for a pertly website to manage customer service. When further pushed about why his sales numbers were so low, Gregorio responded with I guess Im just not a hard-sell kind of guy. From an outside perspective it seems as if Gregorio is just not cut out for s ales and might be more interested in customer service or operations. Sarah Vega- Sarah is the third account representative on the aggroup.Even though she has been with the company for 3 years, still does not appear to have it all together. Sarah was either tardy or absent from meetings. Even when she eventually made it for a meeting, she seemed distracted, awkward and unorganized. This attitude to work reflected on her erratic sales numbers, though she appeared retireledgeable in some areas of the companys harvest-festival line, she was totally clueless in others. . Chelsea Peterson- Chelsea is a store merchandiser and has been with the company for 2years.This is a position that provides support for the sales team. Chelsea from the start was openly hostile with Melissa. Chelsea feels that Melissa is not giving her a chance to become a sales rep even though she has neer expressed that desire to anyone. She eventually expresses her interest to Melissa who told her to put a resume together for consideration. Chelsea still feels slighted and has hires an attorney to approach ColorTech about gender diversity records. Nick Ruiz- Nick is fresh out of college and has been with ColorTech for 1 year.He is the approximately enthusiastic of all the employees on the team. He is currently a store merchandiser, but will do whatever it takes to get into an account rep position. His product knowledge is very strong, he has active discussions with customers, and since there is a greenhouse on site he has strong knowledge of operations as well. He even forgoes his breaks to go into the greenhouse just to talk to workers about the jobs that they do. The Situation-From the very start Melissa Richardson has received no support or respect as a manager. In addition, Melissa has never had any managerial experience and has stepped into an office where she is way over her head with problems that she has never faced before. Her first daylight on the job gave a glimpse of what she was in store for. Her regional sales manager did not show up to introduce Melissa and to get Melissa acclimated to the team. The top sales rep in the company did not respect her and showed up to the first meeting late even though he knew about it.Along with that Sarah Vega showed up late to the meeting and also disrespected Melissa. Very quickly things spiraled out of control for Melissa. She was disrespected in the first meeting by Alex and Sarah, and she did not do anything to address the situation. Melissa coming from Chicago was not accustomed to the culture of the Phoenix office. The greenhouse workers and a lot of the sales team are Hispanic by nature and Spanish was their first language. Melissa has tried to learn Spanish by tape, but could not keep up with the promote that everyone else radius it at. On multiple occasions the sales reps would speak Spanish in front of her, but Melissa could not follow what they said because they spoke in Spanish.This would upset Melissa and cause her feel even more distant from her team. The Phoenix sales office was not meeting sales expectations, and to makes things even worse there was a fungus in the Columbia Greenhouse cut facility. The only way to remedy this problem was to destroy the stock inside, disinfect the entire facility, and then finally start regrowing all of the cut flowers.This problem caused delays of weeks in orders from new customers, and the potential loss of many clients. Due to low self efficacy, a lack of support from upper management, not fitting into the culture of the office, and lack of experience as a manager Melissa failed to successfully transition from team genus Phallus to team leader. In the end, everything spiraled out of control, with Sarah missing work at least once a week, Gregorio consistently putting up poor numbers, Chelsea file a gender discrimination lawsuit against the company, and Alex providing no respect and support for his manager.DiagnosisMelissa Richardson is having difficulty transitioning from Team Member to Team Manager for a variety of reasons including her own behaviors and situational challenges she encounters and they contribute to a dysfunctional team environment. Melissa is in stretch forth even before she begins her new job as Sales Manager because of her low self-efficacy beliefs concerning her management training (Kinicki, 2008, p. 39-41). She has taken management training courses offered by her company but has little confidence in her understanding of the managerial and Human Resources responsibilities of her new position.She finds it hard to imagine how she might apply the specific advice and experiences that her management trainers relate to situations she will encounter. Self-efficacy beliefs are often self-fulfilling prophecies low self-efficacy beliefs lead to low expectations of success and lav result in destructive behavior patterns, such as putting off difficult tasks, which contribute to failure (Kinicki, 2008, p. 40-41) . Melissas problems transitioning to a management position are partly because whether she recognizes it or not, she is not confident that she has the necessary skills and abilities. As she meets her new team and interacts with her new supervisor it becomes die that she is not communicating well with any of them.The members of her team are mostly distant or distractednot focused on the job at handand she allows herself to be distracted from making a strong first impression by other aspects of her job such as touring the greenhouses, phone meetings, and paperwork. Melissa is a low self-monitor, not particularly good at observing her own self-expressive behavior and adapting it to the demands of the situation (Kinicki, 2008, pg 42). She learns from her manager, too late to complete a quarterly sales report, that the data she is using was falsified by her predecessor. She is also confronted by an angry employee wrongly convinced of being passed over for a promotion.Melissa, however, d oes not respond to the environmental cues and change her behavior as she would if she were engaged in self-management (Kinicki, 2008, p. 43). She isnt helped by the lack of leadership from her own manager, Beth Campbell, who ought to be coaching her and providing feedback as she transitions to her new economic consumption and gets to know her new team members (Kinicki, 2008, p. 42). They meet only once before Melissa starts her new job and when Melissa does start, Beth fails to properly introduce her or work her any background information on her new team and position.She assigns work but does not give Melissa the necessary support and training to make sure she succeeds at new and unfamiliar tasks. Beth is not providing the leadership that she unavoidably and Melissa is not comfortable asking for help. One more situational factor operative against Melissas transition to Team Leader is her difficulty adapting to a new environment in Phoenix, where speaking Spanish is a big part of everyday interactions with her co-workers. Several times she feels isolated from her team because she is not fluent in Spanish, even though she has tried to learn the language. Melissas sales team is dysfunctional and she immediately has problems in her interpersonal relationships with several team members.Alex Hoffman is dismissive, Chelsea Peterson is hostile and Sarah Vega is absent. By the time of her July meeting with Beth Campbell, Melissas group has not progressed beyond the second stage of Bruce Tuckmans Five-Stage Theory of Group Development (Kinicki, 2008, p. 88). She encounters problems in the first stage, Forming, when she fails to make a strong first impression on her team. This is followed by the second stage of group development, Storming, as demonstrated by challenges to her authority from Alex who dismisses her goal of selling cut flowers, Chelsea who accuses her of gender discrimination, and Vega who is persistently absent.The group never reaches the third stage, Norming, because nobody challenges the team to move forward and really take on the problem solving necessary to overcome the challenges presented when sales are jeopardized by production issues in the greenhouses. They lack the common commitment necessary to qualify as a real team (Kinicki, 2008, p. 93). Melissa does not effectively set goals or provide incentives and feedback to motivate her team members. She also fails to develop teamwork competencies by helping them understand their problem solving situation so they can grow at a common understanding of what challenges are facing them and how to go about resolving them (Kinicki, 2008, p. 93). PrescriptionWhile the ColorTech team in Phoenix has encountered many problems, including lagging sales, production errors, and an infectious fungus, the teams main issues stem from Melissas difficulty transitioning from team member to team manager, team dysfunction, and Melissas difficulty managing diversity and the new culture in Phoenix. There are solvents available to help mitigate the teams problems, including up(p) Melissas management skills, developing teamwork competencies, and implementing diversity initiatives.However, there is no single root word or quick fix. In fact, under the Contingency Approach, the ideal solution may be a combination of multiple techniques, instead of relying on one solution (Kinicki, 2008, p. 11). The first potential solution provides Melissa with steps she can follow to improve her skills as a manager. Clark Wilson developed eleven skills managers should have 1. Clarify goals and objectives 2. Encourage participation, suggestions, and upward communication 3. Plan and organize work flow 4. Obtain technical and administrative expertise 5. Facilitate work through training, team building, coaching, and support6. Provide honest and constructive feedback 7. Keep things moving with schedules, reminders, and deadlines 8. apply details without being overbearing 9. Apply reasonable pressu re to achieve goals 10. Empower employees and delegate depict duties and 11. Recognize good procedure with positive support and rewards (Kinicki, 2008, p. 2-3). By clarifying goals and objectives, Melissa would have given Gregorio, and the rest of her team, a target to shoot for, which may help him reverse the negative trend in his sales numbers. A clear sales target may also help Sarah become more consistent with her sales figures. Goal-setting research indicates that performance is high when challenging goals are set, and feedback helps employees stay on track and motivated (Kinicki, 2008, p. 64).In addition, by encouraging employees to participate in goal-setting, empowering team members, and recognizing good performance with rewards, employees become more committed to team objectives, and performance improves (Kinicki, 2008, p. 64). Lastly, organizing workflow, facilitating work, providing reminders, and motivating the team with reasonable pressure allows Melissa to ensure th e team is work efficiently and productively (Kinicki, 2008, p. 64). education these management skills will not only improve her teams performance, they will also help improve Melissas communications with her manager, Beth Campbell. By clarifying her goals and objectives with Campbell, Melissa will have a better idea of what it will take to succeed as a manager.By improving Melissas technical and administrative expertise, she will avoid mistakes and late submissions with her sales reports. Lastly, by providing honest and constructive feedback to Campbell about Melissas frustration and difficulties, Campbell may be able to provide guidance and advice. Thus, refining her management skills will improve not just Melissas relationship with her team, but Melissas relationship with her manager as well. To address team dysfunction, Melissa and her team need to develop teamwork competencies. Urging employees to be good team players is not enough (Kinicki, 2008, p. 93).Managers need to model and teach the following competencies the team must understand its problem-solving situation the team must get organized and measure its performance a positive team environment should be promoted conflict must be handled properly and team members should promote their points-of-view appropriately (Kinicki, 2008, p. 93).By understanding their problem-solving situation, Melissas team can take ownership of their challenges, and help find solutions. Getting organized and measuring their performance allows the Phoenix team to understand their goals and what they need to do to achieve them. Lastly, promoting a positive team environment, handling conflict properly, and expressing ones views appropriately will foster trust, cooperation, and team synergy. The next solution requires Melissa to implement diversity initiatives. Based on Morrisons study of diversity initiatives, organizations that successfully manage diversity focus on three main areas 1. Accountabilitytreating diverse employees fairly 2. Developmentpreparing diverse employees for greater responsibility and advancement and3. Recruitmentattracting diverse applicants who are willing to accept challenging work assignments (Kinicki, 2008, p. 36). Under the Equity Theory, motivation is a function of fairness, and employees are more correspondingly to commit if the changes are fair (Kinicki, 2008, p. 58). In addition, because of Fundamental Attribution Bias, managers tend to attribute employee behavior to internal causes, but may be ignoring environmental factors (Kinicki, 2008, p. 28). By treating everyone fairly, implementing development programs, and communicating better, Chelsea would have understood Melissas imagination process, and would be less likely to think that Melissa was being discriminatory.In addition, Spanish was the predominant language at the Phoenix greenhouse, because of the large number of workers from Mexico and telephone exchange America. Thus, Melissa would have to significantly improve her Spanish if she wants to be able to communicate more effectively with the majority of workers at the site. Also, the workers in Phoenix like to keep a friendly atmosphere, and even cook outdoor lunches and share lunch with the sales staff, so it would be a good idea for Melissa to get to know them and to learn more about the culture in Phoenix, in order to maintain positive and productive relationships with her co-workers.Organizations operate in a global economy, and the workplace is becoming more and more diverse (Kinicki, 2008, p. 5-6). In the past, managers were monocultural and monolingual however, the 21st century manager must evolve to become multicultural and multilingual to remain competitive in such a diverse and fast-paced environment (Kinicki, 2008, p. 7). In addition, managing diversity enables all the organizations plurality to perform up to their maximum potential by changing the organizations culture and infrastructure (Kinicki, 2008, p. 32).By learning the cult ure and getting to know the people Melissa is going to be working with, she will be better able to communicate with and manage her team. After all, management is the process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives in an efficient and ethical manner (Kinicki, 2008, p. 2). Melissa and her team are facing numerous challenges, including team dysfunction in part due to Melissas lack of management skills, and because Melissa has found it difficult to transition from being a successful team member to successful manager. Melissa also has difficulty managing diversity and adjusting to the new environment and culture.Fortunately, there are solutions available to help solve her teams difficulties, including improving Melissas management skills, developing teamwork competencies, and implementing diversity initiatives. While there is no easy or single solution, using these techniques in combination will help Melissa and her team become more productive, and help th em reach their personal and organizational goals. Action PlanThere are four key steps that need to be implemented in order to improve Melissa Richardsons ability to manage successfully. And we have prioritized each solutions based on different challenges and its influence on how well she can lead. First of all, Richardson needs to voice her concerns to her boss, Beth Campbell. Then, she needs to talk to HR about some of the employees conduct. Also, she needs to meet with the team and talk about her expectations. Finally, Richardson needs to discuss performance of each individual on one-on-one basis.As discussed before, Richardson was hoping to be guided and mentored in her new role as a sales manager. She did not have prior management experience so it was normal for her to expect some hand holding initially. However, she didnt receive any support from her boss, Campbell. Not only that, she was in charge of leading a team that require clear military commission and discipline. To mak e the matters worse, the organization was facing its own set of problems link to customer demand and operation limitations. Furthermore, Richardson wasnt an effective communicator since she wasnt able to address the team issues and set clear expectations.All of these challenges are very difficult for soul new to manage. So she needs to cultivate a mentor figure, whether it is Campbell or someone else. Because mentoring will provide Richardson the career and psychosocial functions, identified by Kram (Kinicki, 2008, pg. 194), that will help her perform well in her new role. The second challenge Richardson was facing was related to the HR issues. Team members often arrived late to work or were absent. Also, an issue of gender discrimination was brought up by Chelsea Peterson. She felt that she should be receiving a preferential treatment over others because she was a woman. So it is necessary for Richardson to bring up these issues with the HR department and take appropriate actions to stay out of legal trouble and to ensure that the team adheres to organizations code of conduct.Next order of business requires Richardson to bring synergy and harness the dysfunctional team. For example, Alex Hoffman is a top sales person but doesnt open up much. He could be a great asset if she can get him more engaged and mired in the team. And Sarah Vega is not focused and is often distracted by non-work related events. So Richardson needs to understand what holds each member back from being at their maximum potential. And she can increase their performance by applying some of Clark Wilsons recommended management skills (Kinicki, 2008, pg. 2-3). Finally, Richardson needs to recognize the human capital in her team (Kinicki, 2008, p.12). She already made a list of skills each team members has or lacks.She needs to use that knowledge and focus on increasing productivity potential of each member. She can also increase their motivations through job redesign (Kinicki, 2008, p. 64 ). For example, Hoffman is focused more on selling to bigger clients while Gregorio Torres is not. So it may be helpful for her to adjust their sales quotas to reflect their customer preference. Also, Nick Ruiz is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about being in the sales team. Richardson can look into enterprise up an associate sales rep position for him to see how he does in the new role. She can have him work with Hoffman or mentor Ruiz herself on becoming a successful salesperson as she was. We believe that the four steps mentioned above will allow Richardson to improve her management success.Therefore, she needs to tackle each action plan by setting up meetings to address the challenges. First meeting with Campbell seem appropriate due to many questions and concerns Richardson has about her new role. A second meeting with the HR department would help her address the ethics problem with Peterson and other issues. Finally, she needs to meet with the team members again to try to mak e a strong first impression and re-establish her leadership.ReferencesKinicki, A. (2008). Organizational Behavior. New York, NY McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering in Plants Essay

Less tillage unavoidable, especially with sours containing weedkiller tolerance transgenes, therefore conserves fertility by means of minimizing soil damage through compression. GE agriculture claims woeful tillage weed control this goat be achieved by ending the practice of monoculture and instead introducing proper do work rotations designed specifically to combat the weeds of the fact locality. Monoculture creates a weed paradise. All countries face occupations ca use of goods and servicesd by alien species accidentally or deliberately introduced into a new surroundings (e.g. prickly pear in Australia). The main factor permitting this is international travel, but nobody has suggested that this should be banned. The problem of alien species is manageable, as would be the problem of genetical pollution ca employ by spread of origins or pollen. As regards pollen contamination from GM varieties and the call for compensation for growers of non-GM or organic varieties who se crops argon contaminated, if unitary is to be bonnie one(a) might reasonably expect growers of non-GM and organic varieties to compensate growers of GM crops if they argon contaminated with non-GM or organic pollen. Genetic pollution from transgenes spreads into other organisms through pollen, sheds and microbial processes. It is fundamentally polar from other forms of pollution because once the genes argon step to the fore, they cant be recalled. The best example of pollen contamination is provided by the canola seed, which was compute in Canada. It was officially confirmed in May 2000 that this seed was contaminated with unapproved GM canola seed and accidentally shipped to UK and other countries. By then it had been planted in Europe and large acreages of the young crop had to be destroyed. According to Advanta, the contamination occurred because of cross-pollination in Canada, where the seed was produced. The ne best source of GM contamination was 4 kilometers away. f undamental state has long accepted accidental contamination from herbicide sprays from neighboring farms. If there is concern about GMOs, DNA tests can be carried out.Risks destroying organic farming, which rules out the use of GM organisms. Who will compensate organic farmers for the extra surveillance and analysis, which will be needed to ensure that the organic food for thought cooking stoves wait free of GMOs? The Starlink debacle is indeed a lesson that the GM food producers will learn from.Identity Preservation Systems are being put in place, substantiate by DNA analysis, to ensure that GM and non-GM supplies are kept separate.The massive contamination in 2000 of the USA corn (maize) crop and human food chain by Starlink, a variety that is non approved for human consumption, shows that genetic pollution from transgenic crops to non-transgenic crops and food is inevitable. Starlink maize produces the Cry9C protein, which may be a human allergen. deuce other major contamin ations of ordinary seed (maize and canola seed) with GM seed have already occurred leading to emergency recalls of the product. Reduces labor costs. Sustainable organic agriculture creates such(prenominal) needed jobs in depressed rural economies. Environmentally relatively benign herbicides are used and less of them. Opposing GM crops forces farmers to use herbicide loathly varieties which have not been made by GM such as those resistant to sulphonylurea herbicides which more readily give rise to herbicide resistant weeds.Promotes husbandry, therefore more herbicide use. Herbicides are responsible for much illness in farm workers and contaminate drinking water. Enhances biodiversity by allowing weeds to continue festering for longer and so providing nutrition for animals. After weed kill a mulch forms which hosts a thriving population of insects, arthropods etc.The total herbicides used with herbicide tolerant crops kill all weeds thus reducing biodiversity in the field. No in secticidal sprays needed on crops that have insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-toxin genes engineered into them. Plants with Bt or other insecticidal genes are likely to give rise to lower levels of mycotoxins in the final food product. Less insect damage means less opportunity for fungi to sully the plant and bring toxic substances.As with weed control, control of insect damage is achievable with properly designed crop rotation and other forms of serious husbandry such as intercropping. Healthy plants not imbalanced by chemic fertilizers build up their own defenses against insect attack. GM plants are conservatively tried and true for environmental and ecological impact, including their effects on earthworms and beneficial insects. Bt crops target only insects, which attack the crop. Future insect apology genes will be engineered to crush out in leaves and stem rather than in pollen and seed. There is already evidence that the Bt gene is expressed less in Bt corn pol len than in leaves/stems therefore the assay to butterflies (e.g. Monarch) through pollen drift onto their food plants (e.g. milkweed for Monarch) is diminished.In relation to population variance, sample sizes in lab and field tests (e.g. of earthworms) are sometimes too low to detect even large effects. Insecticidal crops containing the gene for Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-toxin kill beneficial organisms such as bees, ladybirds, lacewings & butterflies (e.g. through pollen). The Bt plant remains falling to the ground are harmful to earthworms and other members of soil fauna. Bt toxins are secreted into soil from Bt plant roots and are toxic to lepidoptera in the soil (Stotzky, et al. Nature 402, 480 (1999)). The specific targeting and elimination of one insect pest has led to other pestiferous insect species moving into the ecological niche created by the disappearance of the first species. Getting rid of one problem simply created another. If Bt toxin transgenes spread to unreas onable relatives of crop plants the wild plants may also develop resistance to insect herbivores. This could lead to the affected wild plants graceful invasive weeds. The problem of resistance to Bt toxin and other toxins engineered into crops can be countered by planting suitably sized refuges of a non-GM variety of the crop at satisfactory intervals within the crop. The interbreeding of the wild population with the Bt-exposed potentially resistant population will dilute out the genetic trait and thus prevent it building up.Putting the Bt toxin gene in the crop exposes the pest to the toxin for longer, thus allowing congenital genetic resistance to the toxin to develop in the pest. So-called refuge systems do not work, partly because breeding cycles in the differing pest populations are not synchronized. Refuges of up to 40% of the acreage are having to be recommended and this is not practical or hot for farmers.The build up of Bt toxin resistance threatens to render ineffecti ve an insecticide long used by organic agriculture. Increased use of biopesticides in transgenic crops deprives the ecosystem of one of its natural pest controls thereby putting at risk its ability to restore equilibrium after being upset by abnormal conditions. Helps solve the problem of world hunger by creating varieties which will make more efficient utilization of scarce land and give higher yields because of better pest resistance, nourishing utilization etc.World hunger will not be solved by technological means. It is a problem of inequitable distribution of riches and corrupt governments. Reduces yields (e.g. cotton, soybeans and scratch line beet in some areas). If herbicide resistance spreads to weed populations it can be combated with another herbicide with a different agile ingredient. The ecological and agricultural threat of a GM plant is no more than a non-GM invasive (exotic) species such as kudzu or purpurate loosestrife. Although improved crop yields can be en gineered by genetically deepening plants, there is ecological concern over whether these plants are likely to persist in the wild in the event of dispersal from their cultivated habitat. The results of a long-term study of the performance of transgenic crops in natural habitats on four different crops (canola seed, potato, maize and sugar beet) which were grown in 12 different habitats and monitored over a period of 10 years show that in no case were the genetically limited plants found to be more invasive or more persistent than their conventional counterparts. (M. J. CRAWLEY, S. L. BROWN, R. S. HAILS, D. D. KOHN & M. REES. Biotechnology Transgenic crops in natural habitats Nature 409, 682 683 (2001) Macmillan Publishers Ltd)Enhances spread of herbicide resistance to wild weed populations because the necessary genes are in the pollen, which can then pollinate wild relatives of the crop plant. This could create superweeds especially if gene stacking of several different transgene s occurs. Spread of transgenes is also caused by birds, animals & machinery carrying the seed to other locations (e.g. canola seed on Ailsa Craig isle, 10 miles from Scottish mainland) Increased weediness of GM crops is already beginning to show. In 1999, in Alberta, Canada canola seed volunteers (unwanted crop plants coming up the following year) resistant to three different herbicides have been discovered. A series of chemical and DNA tests confirm the weeds in farmer Tony Huethers field near Sexsmith are resistant to Roundup, Liberty and Pursuit herbicide chemicals. Invasive species of plants can remain relatively mere(a) in a region for many years and then suddenly take a hold so much so that they become an economically significant nuisance.For this reason, the ecological impact of GM crops will be difficult to predict in the long term, i.e. over several decades. Most cultivars are incredible to survive amongst wild plant populations and those with herbicide resistance that pretermit will have no advantage from the herbicide resistance trait unless that particular herbicide is used. Such volunteers can be controlled with other herbicides.Transgenic herbicide resistant cultivars could escape into the wild and become problematic volunteers in agriculture. These volunteers will require increased use of more toxic herbicides. Is a sustainable agriculture, because it reduces chemical inputs as well as fuel inputs for farm machinery.Unsustainable based on greed not need. Helps chemical agriculture to proliferate. The only sustainable agriculture for the future is organic (including biodynamic & permaculture). Quicker and more precise than traditional breeding.Breeding takes place outside the proper context, i.e. in the laboratory, therefore the crops are so weakened that they need to have the environment of the laboratory (soil sterilization, artificial fertilizers and pesticides) brought to them in the field. Transgenic lines are unstable and can lead to c rop failures (e.g. GM cotton in USA). A greater range of distinct indisposition-resistant varieties can be created so that the farmer has a wide choice and can plant a mixture of several varieties of the same crop in the same field to insure against disease attack. Disease resistance traits can be rapidly introduced to cultivars, e.g. rice, thus keeping ahead of the changing pattern of disease in a particular locality.Because of the huge investment in GM crops, the of necessity increased emphasis on single high-yielding varieties reduces genetic diversity within the crop itself. This can lay the crop open to massive losses when disease strikes. Novel drought and salt-tolerant cultivars can be created (important for Third World Countries).Sustainable organic plant breeding can develop novel varieties properly desirable to a locality perfectly satisfactorily. Any royalties or technology fees are more than compensated for by advantages including higher yields and easier, therefore l ess expensive, husbandry.No seed saving by the farmer is permitted. The farmer has to pay royalties to the biotech company. This under(a)mines a traditional agricultural practice and curiously threatens peasant farming in developing countries. GM crops add to the tendency of modern chemical agriculture to undermine the autonomy of farmers and turn them into tractor drivers or machine minders for large transnational corporations. New varieties are tested for perniciousness more than any crop plants have ever been in the past, therefore they are likely to be safer. Jimmy Clark, a professor of ruminant nutrition in Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, reviewed the results from 23 research experiments, which were conducted over the past four years at universities throughout the United States, Germany and France. In each study, separate groups of chickens, dairy cows, beef cattle and sheep were provide either genetically modified corn or soybeans or tradi tional corn or soybean as a portion of their diet.Each experiment independently confirmed that there is no significant difference in the animals ability to deliver the genetically modified crops and no significant difference in the weight gain, milk production, milk composition, and overall health of the animals when compared to animals fed the traditional crops. Clark concluded, Based on safety analyses required for each crop, human consumption of milk, meat and eggs produced from animals fed genetically modified crops should be as safe as products derived from animals fed conventional crops. Clark added that approximately 70% of the genetically modified soybeans produced in the world and 80% of the genetically modified corn produced in the United States are used as animal feed. Since these genetically modified crops were grown beginning in 1996, they have been fed to livestock and no detrimental effects have been reported, Clark said. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Release, April 2001).Increases herbicide residues in the food because the herbicide is applied later in the growing season and closer to harvest The issue of spread of antibiotic drug resistance from GM crops containing antibiotic resistance marker genes is unproven. If it is a problem at all it is likely to be small compared with the induction of antibiotic resistance through profligate use of antibiotics in animal nutrition, veterinary and medical practice.Spreads antibiotic resistance to microorganisms in the environment, and then to pathogenic bacteria. More profit for the farmer, seed producer and biotech company shareholder.No demonstrable benefit to the consumer. Crops producing nutraceuticals can be engineered, i.e. food additives that have a nutritional benefit bordering on a pharmaceutical benefit, e.g. modified edible oils. The vitamin content of plants can be enhanced by GM. Plants which previously did not contain a particular vitamin can now be made to produce large amounts of it (e.g. Vitamin A golden rice). The aim of the GM Vitamin A rice project is not to achieve ideal levels of vitamin A pulmonary tuberculosis through this source but to augment the extremely low intakes which lead to blindness and death of hundreds of thousands of people a year (Prof. Dr. Ingo Potrykus, statement, February 2001). In 1999, Deutsche Bank issued a report advising investors to avoid investing in GM crop technology (agribiotech). A balanced diet of fresh fruit & vegetables plus cereals and protein is all that is necessary.Nutraceuticals are a sticking plaster (band aid) attempt to remedy fundamentally unhealthy diets. Existing food sources provide adequate daily intakes of vitamins provided they are eaten in fit amounts and the vitamins are not destroyed in the processing or cooking. Vitamin-enhanced GM plants are an unnecessary technical solution to a problem, which does not exist. Even with Vitamin A GM rice a normal daily intake of 300 gram of rice w ould, at best, provide 8% percent of the vitamin A needed daily. The killer genes of the technology protection system (terminator technology) allows the seed producers intellectual property (patent) to be protected by a biological rather than litigious method.No seed saving by the farmer is permitted. The farmer has to pay royalties to the biotech company. This undermines a traditional agricultural practice and particularly threatens peasant farming in developing countries. The increased choice of modern high-yielding cultivars to farmers allows diversification to keep ahead of economic, climatic and plant disease trends.The possibility of advertize globalization of crop varieties that GE offers through the introduction of traits necessary for introduction into new regions of the globe erodes cultural diversity i.e. traditionally, different crops and varieties are grown by different cultures. Genetic engineering works towards global uniformity, i.e. globalization of Western/Northe rn culture. There used to be far greater choice of crop varieties for farmers, sometimes hundreds of varieties of a particular crop in a given region, but this diversity is falling at an alarming rate because of the industrialization of farming under pressure from the agrochemical industry. This will be accelerated by biotech agribusiness. GE allows the creation of plants that produce vaccines, pharmaceuticals or enhanced pharmaceutical raw materials. GE is already used to produce pharmaceuticals in microorganisms in the much safer containment conditions of biotechnology factories. It should not be taken out into the environment thus putting the environment at risk. In any case, much of the pharmaceutical production, which would be created, is designed to treat diseases caused by industrialization and urbanization, which could be better treated not by a genetic fix but by changing lifestyles and environment.Novel food crops are tested for genetic stability (breeding true), substanti al equivalence, nutritive properties, toxicity and allergenicity. It is well known that conventional breeding can introduce increased levels of natural plant toxins into a new variety or can modify its digestibility or nutritiousness. Furthermore, certain organic crops have been shown to have higher levels of toxic substances, e.g potatoes.GE introduces unpredictable toxic or allergenic effects into food plants (e.g. Brazil nut gene in transgenic soybeans). Substantial equivalence is a political-commercial concept rather than a scientific one. GM plants are not genetically stable. For instance, the number of copies of an inserted gene changes through later generations of the GM plant. This technology is completely new to the insurance industry. It is natural that insurers will be cautious about it. However, when they come across that the risks are no worse than with introduced alien species that are dealt with by conventional methods of weed control, the problem of insurance will disappear. No amount of research under containment conditions will reveal how a GM plant will behave when grown en masse in the open field.As the degree of escape of genes from GM crops is unpredictable, they cant be recalled once they have escaped and they could multiply in the wild, some insurance underwriters have stated that such risks are uninsurable. There should be a moratorium on experiments in the open until the safety of the GM plant is fully tested under containment conditions. Plant pathogens need not be used in making GM plants. The genes can be blasted into plant cells using a gene gun, which fire microparticles of metallic element coated with the DNA of interest.Plant pathogens such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens (literally cancer causing) are used to shuttle genes into plants and viral gene sequences such as cauliflower mosaic virus promoter are used to make the genes express themselves once in the plant. The pathogens could recombine with their natural equivalents in the plant thus risking unpredictable outbreaks of plant disease. Bioprospecting has gone on since very ancient times. There is no reason why an organism, which just happens to be at a particular location of the globe, should be in the sole ownership of the people living there. Agreements can be entered into in order to protect the traditional usages of indigenous peoples.Steals genetic commons from peasant farmers and indigenous peoples (biopiracy by the rich North, e.g. neem tree & basmati rice). Biopolymers can be produced in GM plants allowing the manufacture of biodegradeable plastics (e.g. PHBV, Biopol), which are also sustainable because they are not made from fossil fuels. No comment

Mesopotamia and Egypt Essay

The early civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt were very similar, but they were to a fault different in some ways. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt certain their civilizations centered on rivers, but these rivers were polar opposites. Mesopotamia was between two rivers called the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypts civilization developed around the Nile River. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers differed from the Nile River. The Nile River was calm, and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were wild and very unpredictable. Since these rivers had opposite behaviors, Mesopotamias intensity level was in irrigation, while Egypt was a more agricultural society. Mesopotamia and Egypt were very similar in their roots, but they also had distinctive forms of hearty governing and religious reflection that developed because of the rivers that surrounded them. Mesopotamias social organization was a way to differentiate between rulers and those who were commoners. Each metropolis-state in Mesopotamia had elders and young men that made decisions for the community. Rulers defend their access to both political and economic resources by creating trunks of bureaucracies, priesthoods, and laws.Priests and bureaucrats served their leaders well, defending and advocating rules and norms that validated the political leadership. Lists of professions were passed around so each person could know his or her place in the social order. The king and priest were at the top of the social structure followed by bureaucrats who were scribes, supervisors, and craft workers. The craft workers were jewelers, gardeners, potters, metal smiths, and traders this was the largest group of the social structure. The craft workers were not slaves but they depended on their employers households. People rarely moved from one social level to an opposite. Not only was there organization between society in general, but there was also specific organization between families. In families, the senior male became the patri arch. A family was made up of a husband and a wife who was bound by a contract that stated that the wife would provide children, preferably male, and the husband would provide actualize and protection. If there was no male child, a second wife or slave could bear children to serve as the couples offspring. In families, sons would inherit the familys property and the daughters would receive dowries.Priests were at the top of the social organization with the king because they lived in temples, which representedthe cities power. Bureaucrats were at the top of the social structure underneath the main quite a little of power because they were scribes. Mesopotamia was the worlds first city to keep records and read, developing a writing system. Writing became important to the development of cities and enabled people to share information across enceinteer distances and over longer periods of time. Scribes played a significant role in developing a writing system that people anywhere and i n the future could decipherer. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers served as major communication and transportation routes for Mesopotamia. The need for a system of record keeping developed because farmers and officials compulsory a way to keep track of the distribution of goods and services. It was important to keep track of goods and services because long-distance trade was very important to Mesopotamia since it lacked many in the raw materials that were crucial to developing the city. On the other hand, in Egypt, the social organization was similar to Mesopotamia, but differed just slightly.At the top was a Pharaoh or also called a king was the center of Egyptian life followed by priests, scribes, craftsmen, and lastly farmers and slaves. The Pharaoh was at the center of life and had the responsibility to ensure that flooding of the Nile River continued without dangling and had the responsibility to develop a vibrant economy. Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was a descendant fr om the gods. Egypt had one advantage that Mesopotamia did not have, the Nile River. The Nile River was navigable and provided annual floods. These annual floods allowed for regular moisture. Even though the Nile River did not fertilize the fields as wells as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia, the yearly floods meant that the topsoil was renewed every year, making the soil easy to institute in. Egypt also had the sun that allowed a bountiful agriculture. Egypt, similarly to Mesopotamia, was a scribe nation. Since little people were literate in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, a scribes social posture was increased automatically. However, even though both Mesopotamia and Egypt were scribal cultures, Egypt appeared to be more literate. This could be because Egypt developed later on than Mesopotamia, and they may have used it more since Egypt had the Nile River. The Nile provided for good gathering allowing Egypts economy to flourish.Since Egypt had good harvest, they may h ave needed to keep better track of goods and services because they had more goods to keep track of since they had better harvest thanMesopotamia. Social structure in Egypt and Mesopotamia was not the only thing that was affected by the rivers. Another aspect of early civilization that was affected by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia was religion. Mesopotamians had beliefs in gods that molded their political organizations and controlled everything. They believed the gods controlled weather, fertility, harvests, and the underworld. They had to respect their gods, but they also feared them because they were powerful. A major way for Mesopotamians to worship their gods was through the temples. Temples were gods homes and were the cities identity. To demonstrate cities power, rulers would elaborately decorate temples. The priests and other officials lived in the temples and worked to serve gods, the most powerful immortal beings to the Mesopotamians. Temples ran productive and commercial activities and those that were close to the river would hire workers to hunt, fish, and collect.The temples were a way for people to worship their gods and show their homage to them. Therefore, since the Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled everything including weather and harvest, two important aspects in Mesopotamia civilization, it was important that they stay faithful to their gods since they did not have the best rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers would flood if there was heavy rainfall during the meridian of the agricultural season. Thus, if they worshiped their gods frequently, the Mesopotamians may believe that the gods will bestow good weather eliminating floods more often, creating a better year of harvest. Like Mesopotamia, each region in Egypt had its own god. In addition, Egypt also had temples to worship their gods. In Egypt, gods were inactive and the kings, or pharaohs, were active. The pharaoh had responsibility to uphold cults while the priests were to uphold regular rituals. The pharaoh acted as a intercessor between the gods and the people of the city. He supported the gods through rituals held in temples, which the Egyptians contributed many resources to.Since trade from the Nile River allowed the city of Egypt to prosper economically, they had more resources to build more elaborate temples and later on pyramids. Pyramids were unique to Egyptian culture. The pyramids became a place for state rituals and were very important to Egyptian culture. Since Egypt prospered because of its location next to the Nile, they had an abundance of resources that was necessary to build the compound temples. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt wereriverine cultures. Each city had its own unique social organization and religious beliefs, but they had similar roots. Both civilizations were scribal cultures, but since Egypt had the Nile River, the two civilizations differed. Since both civilizations were scribal, scribes achieve great social status under the king and priests. Egypt prospered greatly from the resources that the predictable Nile River offered.Mesopotamia had the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that were unpredictable, but still provided for irrigation and allowed the city to advance in irrigation technology and opened the city up to the surrounding cities. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had polytheism and worshiped their gods in temples. Instead of referring to the king like in Mesopotamia, Egypt refers to the pharaoh. Egypt believed that the pharaoh communicated with the gods. The rivers in both Mesopotamia and Egypt opened these areas up to the rest of the world and allowed for great economic growth.

Walking Alone – Original Writing

Dew clings to the harsh pale grass. The cool droplets of water stick to my bare legs as I brush past, silently, stealthily. Where am I going? Itll come back to me in a moment. Ill just follow my instinct. Right, if Im automatically taking this direction to Wherever, then this is the right way. Wearing my jacket was a good idea. I had to rummage to find it. I cant remember the last time I wore it. I cant even remember when I was last bulge out of town for a weekend. That would be nice a weekend out with a few friends- not that Id ask.Theyd probably be busy bothway. Ok, I cannot germinate distracted. I shall walk on. Left, right, left, right. Im starting to enjoy this monotony. Yes, this is rather pleasant, rather agreeable. I look around for any(prenominal) sort of landmark, or something to help me recognise where I am. I wont admit to being lost because that would call into the question of my destination, which, to be honest, is still unbeknownst to me. Ill just meander along thi s way. God, Im knackered, I could use a chocolate bar. Yes, a chocolate bar is what I need, along with a nice drink.But not until I get there, I must cargo area on going. Oh, a house. Its a tall looming house, with ivy crawling over it, its brambles resembling long green tendrils, or fingers, curling crispy and brown at the tips. Whats that scuttling crossways the front porch? A grubby, greasy blur darts past. I lean forward as if to grab it, but its gone before Im even close. I force myself upwards, and see a door in front of me. The faded red paint is flaking. I reach my hand towards it and absentmindedly begin to disinvest it back. I wonder why Ive never seen this house before.I wonder why I havent seen any of this area before whatsoever. A chill overcomes me, engulfing me in a stuttering shudder. Its cold, and late. It must be gone five in the morning by now. Oh well. A bleak throng of clouds tumble over the nights sky, devouring any lingering traces of high temperature. I p ull my jacket tighter around me and shiver again, glancing around, praying, pleading, for some form of refuge. The house is not an option, its someones home. I cant break in. Not now, anyway. I aggrandise towards a large wooden gate.I thwack it open, shocking myself as I do so. An ear-piercing screech of pain comes from the gate, like a toddler protesting against consume the remnants of her cereal. I guess my thwacking skills arent quite up to par, the gates stuck. What now? Onwards again? Alright, Ill stomp my feel around a bit to restore some warmth to my pathetic shell of a body. Thats better, slightly. Argh, my eyes Some plonker has his headlights on full and hes facing me head-on. Perhaps I should step out the way.Oh, hes slowing down. My rescuer, maybe? That would be nice What the hell do you think you were doing, standing in the middle of the road at this ungodly hour? I see spots. I whimper. The mans face is weathered and tired. It reminds me of Father Christmas, now hes a lovely bloke. A dreamy smile is wafting onto my face. The man looks at me as if Im deranged and creepy, and then accelerates stumble into the night. Im shivering. I am literally shivering. I desperately need shelter before I get pneumonia. That house. That old, ruinous house. I turn around, stumbling over a rock. There it is, standing tall and imposing, yet strangely familiar.Whoever owns it has made a hapless attempt at remodelling it, adding a modern extension and painting the wall. Well, some of it at least. The path has deep, cavernous cracks and so I have to be careful not to cut my bare feet on the fragments. A desolate flowerbox hangs by a window, the flowers long dead. I examine it closer, noting the what-used-to-be-dark-green-but-is-now-discoloured-pale-turquoise crusty paint on the criss-crossed wood. Again, I feel a faint wave of familiarity- like an echo from the past. With a shudder I glance around fleetingly for a side entrance. A swing.An old, plastic-y swing, wit h faded yellow rope, neglected and left to rot in the grass for the adjacent millennia. A childs laughter, my laughter. A hot summer morning we were having a barbeque. I swung on this swing. I lived in this house. The memories come flooding, hitting me with a wave of nausea. I look up at the house, my house, my poor, poor house. Mutilated, derelict, left piteously to ruin. Its ugly, horrific. My at a time beautiful house is looking like a dump. This grass was once green, and this porch was once magnificently up kept. Memories. I now know why I didnt recognise it at first.All those memories, those awful memories, blocked out for all these years. I clutch my head and keel over, onto the callous ground. There is an immense pressure on my head. Bottled up for all these years, its finally unleashed on me again. I convulse and vomit, then further disfiguring the house. Another sharp burst of pain in my side. Im in agony, reliving the past. Im dying. Im dying at the place of my birth wh oever came up with the Circle of vivification must be smug. I convulse one more time and pass out, my head in a fug of trapped memories, waiting to be recollected.

Historic Preservation and Environmental Conservation Essay

The preservation of historic berths and other historic artifacts is say to be significant if a hostel or a community measures its inheritance that paved the way to how far the society has reached. Historic preservation implies raising the realitys cognisance regarding historic objects so as to ensure that these objects will be well taken c are of through time. It is not only that these historic objects serve the subprogram of reminding the public of their storey and from where their society came from long before the present generation existed.It is also that these objects of historical value serve the purpose of providing an insight into the past which could in truth well contribute to the knowledge of the larger society, teaching lessons and principles from the past that still apply in contemporary times. As Donovan Rypkema explains, historic preservation revitalizes and revalues the nearby be investment of both the public and private sectors (1999, March). However, there ar e criticisms against the purposes from which historic preservation is founded. For the most part, preserving large infrastructures that no longer meet the modern architectural standards faces the challenge of justifying the preservation of such(prenominal) historic architectures especially when wellness hazards to the general public are involved. Another consideration is when historic objects take a extensive chunk of finances in maintaining their conditions through decades, if not centuries.While it is certainly convincing to say that the preservation of objects and landmarks that share a sizeable history of a community or a society is consequential, there remains the challenge of allocating the proper finances and other resources in order to address the task of preserving such objects through time. Moreover, the external conditions which are beyond the control of humanity such as the various forces of weather pose significant threats to the preservation of historical objects whi ch merely increase the allocated resources maked to fulfill the task of preserving such objects.Nevertheless, the thought that historic preservation might demand for a huge share of resources duration risking the health of the public to a certain extent does not necessarily entail that the task of preservation should be abandoned quite easily. Efforts to weigh and mitigate the competing public interests are equally paramount in order to bring about a shared sense for history.That goal can be done in various ways, from legislative efforts in the government to the collaboration of the government sphere with the sphere of private individuals and organizations. Historic preservation can overlap with environmental saving precisely because these two things are interconnected in some areas. For instance, an effort to hinder the deva range of an ancient landmark to give way for the wind of a modern edifice is connected with the preservation of the inborn resources surrounding the lan dmark.On the other hand, an effort to conserve the remaining flora and fauna in a tropical region can help in securing the areas present condition which can give way to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the sight whose ancestors founder lived in the area many years back. In essence, any attempt to preserve history has a corresponding effect on the saving of what remains of the environment and vice versa. In a more general sense, preserving historic sites and objects creates an impact on the demand of human beings on the resources of the world.That is, as old buildings and other significant landmarks are destroyed and are replaced with new structures, the environment surrounding the area is altered. Especially in cases where the historic landmark that is to be destroyed is situated in an environment teeming with natural resources such as trees and wildlife which local folks count on for their daily require to live, destroying the site will also alter the bionomical footmark of these tribe in certain cases. Connecting Historical Preservation and the Environment ConservationThe preservation of history and the conservation of the environment come hand in hand in many ways, one of which is the case where the demolition of an existing historic landmark so as to give space for a new building to be constructed requires the alteration of the current geographic and environmental location of the landmark. For example, the historic landmark whitethorn be a 19th century railway station which has been used until the beginning of the 21st century in America.The historic value of the railway station may come from the fact that it was the means of long-distance transportation of the people during those times, and that it was the first of its kind in the whole world. It may also come from the fact that the railway station is one which symbolized the beginning of the era of American interstate transportation, and that the landmark was built from the rising d emands for an effective and efficient way of providing a cheaper transportation remains in America.It may also come from the fact that the landmark has been built by the local people and, thus, the railway station stands as the concrete proof, literally and figuratively, of the common desires of the people and of the unity of the public consciousness during those times. With those things in mind, it can then be said that the railway stations historic value justifies its preservation.If the landmark is to be destroyed, a portion of American history will vanish with it and that those who labored for its realization after years and years of work will soon just become another page in history books never to be seen firsthand by the generations to come. The part where the environmental conservation locution comes in is the part where the actual demolition of the landmark transpires. The mere fact that in order to build a new edifice right on the spot where the railway station is built i mplies that the railway station has to be demolished.Architectural and engineering considerations oftentimes require not only a major(ip) altering of the exact location where the landmark is situated but also an altering of the vicinity around the landmark which in this example is the railway station. In the process of demolishing the old structure and building a new one in place of it, trees might be cut down, fertile topsoil might need to be excavated and replaced with cement, and wild animals might be driven away from their habitat just to name a few.Moreover, the debris and other wastes resulting from the demolition of historic infrastructures poses threats to the environment (The Greenest edifice). However, if the historic site is retained and the goal of establishing a new edifice in its place is abandoned, there will be no need to cut the trees, to dig the fertile topsoil and to drive away wildlife from their dwelling place. In the end, the status quo of the environment aro und the old railway station is maintained and, thus, there will be no ecological concerns. Ecological FootprintFirst used by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the early 1990s, the concept of ecological footprint involves the measurement of the demand of human beings over the ecosystems of the planet. With the planets capacity to re kick in its land and water resources, ecological footprint compares the consumption of natural resources with that capacity. Moreover, if all human beings lived a given lifestyle, then it is possible to know exactly how much human demand is being provided for by the planets ecosystem through its numerous natural resources in order to support humanitys existence.Does historic preservation have an effect on ones ecological footprint? Apparently, there is no easy answer to this question simply because it is not always the case that historic preservation affects ones ecological footprint. Neither is it always the case that historic preservation does not affect ones ecological footprint. Simply put, historic preservation may or may not entirely affect ones ecological footprint depending on the circumstances.The calculation of the ecological footprint for areas with dense population, for instance, is said to lead to the perception that such populations are parasitic because small cities or countries with a huge population have little internal capacity to generate and regenerate its biological resources especially biological resources on the land to provide for its large population. Moreover, the ecological footprint would indicate that these small cities and countries might depend on the hinterlands just to meet the demands for natural resources for its dense population.Since historic preservation basically involves the preservation of historic sites and the objects that may be found in these sites, cities such as the first-class and heavily industrialized ones with historic sites may choose to demolish such sites in order to put com mercial infrastructures in its place. And since these cities already depend mostly on the hinterlands for its needs of natural resources, there will be a very minimal effect, if not a negligible one, on the ecological footprint of the whole city.There are instances, however, where historic preservation directly affects the ecological footprints of certain groups of people or certain societies. In the case of the people living in the hinterlands and where there are several historical sites which have been left untouched for several years by commercial or backing ventures, the obliteration of local historic landmarks such as famous barns and classic farmhouses built in earlier times would alter the current state of the environment.For instance, removing the barns and farmhouses in order to give way to the construction of a new highway affects the production capacity of the locality in making use of the natural resources. Moreover, the construction of a new highway makes the lands in the hinterlands more accessible for capitalist ventures such as the creation of houses and other commercial infrastructureslike wood hookup facilitiesin place of the barns and farms. These things would eventually lessen the natural resources available in the land while increasing the size of the population of the locality at the equal time.Thus, the failure to preserve historic sites in the hinterlands, for instance, causes the alteration of the consumption rate of the natural resources by the hinterlands population of both wildlife and the people. This in cut into leads to an alteration in the capacity of the ecosystem in the hinterland to generate and regenerate its natural resources since an increase in the demand of resources such as land, water, plants and other animals and a decrease in the locations where the ecosystem can continue to regenerate its resources distorts the balance between the supply and demand for such resources.The hinterlands or the wilderness truly indee d have benefits, specifically from providing critical habitat for endangered animals to maintaining the important biological diversity (Wilderness Society, 2004, p. 1) In essence, the extent of the influence of historic preservation on the ecological footprint of a given population depends on whether or not the population lives in small cities or countries that rely on the resources found outside of their speedy territories to supply their populations demands.A small city with a dense population that primarily depends on its neighboring hinterlands in meeting its needs for resources may not be directly and largely affected either by the failure or the success of efforts to preserve historic sites situated within its boundaries. On the other hand, a small township with a dense population that largely depends on its internal natural resources and barely depends on the resources flood tide from other towns will be greatly affected by the demolition of historic landmarks found at it s vicinity.The removal of such landmarks for the intent of expanding the commercialization of the town will decrease the natural resources available and, thus, decreasing the resources that would have been regenerated by the towns ecosystem. Depending on the existing demands, the size of the population and the location of historical sites, historic preservation may nonetheless affect ecological footprints. Demand and supply Conventional wisdom reveals that a high demand for natural resources requires a high supply of those resources as well.The interconnection between historical preservation and environmental conservation is further highlighted with the connection between the demand for resources and natures supply of resources. As more heritage sites and cultural landmarks are destroyed in order to give way to the construction of more modern buildings and sites, and while more farmlands are being transformed into residential and commercial areas, the supply of natural resources con tinue to dwindle.This is because the ecological footprint would reveal how the ecosystem is continuously losing the resources to generate and regenerate, outpaced largely by human consumption. On another note, the demand for knowledge about the heritage and history of peoples and societies is always present whereas the supply of the original sources of such history and heritage is on the decline. For instance, constant looting of ancient tombs in Egypt brings a decline in the artifacts which can be used for further investigative force field and research on Egypts rich history.As a result, knowledge that could have been eventually derived from such artifacts never gets to reach the awareness of the public. Nevertheless, there are current efforts to preserve what is left of the Egyptian tombs and other important historical sites in Egypt (Aslan, 2007). Historic preservation and environmental conservation are two important factors in the existence of mankind.They not only give the peo ple a sense of history and an attachment to the biospheremore importantly, both things also give the people a sense of responsibility over the things that provide them sustenance to their physical and mental lives. While the preservation of historical objects and the conservation of the environment are tasks that require concerted efforts and a huge volume of tasks to be completed, the benefits at the end of it all far outweigh the challenges that may stand against the way of humanity.ReferencesAslan, R. (2007). Rescuing Cairos Lost Heritage. Islamica Magazine, 15. Rypkema, D. (1999, March). Historic Preservation is Smart Growth. Speech presented at National Audubon Society of New York s Conference on Smart Growth, New York. The Greenest Building (2008). The Greenest Building is the One Already Built. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from http//www. thegreenestbuilding. org/ Wilderness Society (2004). FACTS National Wilderness Protection System 1.

Longitudinal Analysis Using Panel Data for Assessing Seasonality Effects on the Food Security Situation in Tajikistan 2005 Hbs

Issue Longitudinal epitome victimization panel entropy for assessing seasonality effect on the nutriment security post in Tajikistan 2005 HBS Tajikistan Longitudinal analysis using panel selective information for assessing seasonality cause on the feed security situation in Tajikistan 2005 HBS RAMASAWMY, Seevalingum FAO Statistics Division, Rome. Italy Household income and expenditure survey (HIES) usually collects nutriment information from households at only one period which may refer to one week, ii weeks or one month.Most HIES extend the field work over the entire period of one family to account for any seasonal effects of household expenditure particularly provender white plague. The survey estimates assume seasonal effects cancelled out in large groups of households but not at the aim of the individual household. Thus, the mask-household athletics estimated on the basis of such information would tend to include the seasonal effects. However, the Tajikistan H ousehold Budget Survey (HBS) presents a particular characteristic that it collects expenditure and income data from the said(prenominal) household over a long period of time.The longitudinal design survey accounts for all funs including the seasonal effects when analysed over the months of the yearly period. This paper presents some contract analysis of pabulum security statistics derived from the 2005 Tajikistan household panel monthly food consumption data store from the sample of 925 households and evaluate the impact of the variability of the distribution of the food consumption in the food security statistics estimates. Keywords nutriment consumption data, food security statistics, display board data, pabulumetic slide fastener consumption, forage Deprivation, Critical food exiguity, Coefficient of variation.Acknowledgements FAO (Statistics Division and Food Security Information for Action Programme) for technical assistance and the European Comm unit of measuremen t of measurementy for financial support. 1. BACKGROUND Tajikistan is a landlocked country, largely mountainous and sparsely inhabited, 90 percent is mountainous and the total ara splits the country into quaternary regions (Oblasts) and one nonparasitic city, the guinea pig capital Dushanbe. Only septet percent of the land area is arable cotton and shuck are the main important crops.Aluminium is the major country re starting time together with separate limited mineral resources such as silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. With abundant water resources, it possesses much(prenominal)(prenominal) hydropower facilities which are however not intumesce distributed among its existence. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. opus Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, nearly two-thirds of the population continues to live in poverty. Economic growth reached 10. percent in 2004 but dropped to eight percent in 2005 and to 7 percent in 2006. Tajikistans economic situation, however, remains fragile collectable to uneven implementation of structural reforms, weak governance, widespread unemployment, and the external debt burden. Unemployment is formally estimated at 30 percent, while the figure is likely to be much higher. Lack of alternative sources of livelihoods continue to exacerbate household food insecurity and results in under-employment in the agricultural sector, while a large number of young men seasonally or definitely migrate for employment in other CIS countries.There is a high mobility of the working population to Russia, where much than half a million of the population are currently working. The 2007 Tajikistan population was about seven million nearly 70 percent live in rural areas. The annual population growth is about 2 percent. 2. OBJECTIVES, METHODS AND DATA The paper analyses the trends of food securit y statistics derived from the monthly and behindly food consumption data of the Tajikistan 2005 HBS. It likewise evaluates the trend variations of inequality measures of dietetical zero onsumption ascribable(p) to other factors such as income and area of residence and their effects on the measurement of food deprivation. The Tajikistan State Committee of Statistics has been conducting household budget survey (HBS) based on the Soviet methodological analysis collecting household consumption expenditure from a fixed sample of households over time. A internally representative sample of 925 households was selected from the 2000 population census data frame using the multi-stage stratification. Rural and urban areas together with criteria of mountains, valley, uplands, lowlands and country b parliamentary procedures on the north and south were accounted for.The households were selected at the last stage using the available administrative data with regard to the composition of the household. Household detailed expenditure including food and income data are collected using fooling records from the same 925 households over geezerhood since January 2000. Each household receives a monthly incentive equivalent to one dollar in local currency. The Tajikistan HBS collected consumption and expenditure data from 925 households over the year using eight different types of questionnaires which enable the collection of complementary expenditure data on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis.Food data are recorded in detail, stock at the start of the month for each food item, purchases, own production, transfers, (aid, gifts, etc. ) during the month on a daily basis, and closing stock at the end of the month. Income is also collected by sources on a daily and monthly basis. SCS uses a detailed nutrient modulation table covering dietary energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate determine for computing nutrient fosters. The Tajikistan 2005 HBS monthly food consumption data together with the household income were analysed using the FAO statistical procedures of the food security statistics module (FSSM).The paper compares the food security statistics (FSS) estimates from the two sets of data namely the twelve sets of monthly food consumption data and the quarterly aggregated data of the 925 households. The food consumption in terms of dietary energy and expenditure are examined together with the dietary energy unit value at the internal take aim and by the four main regions, Dushanbe, RPR, Sogd and Chatlon and by income quintiles. The inequality measure of food assess is studied in much details to evaluate the variation of area of residence and income over the months of 2005.Measures of prevalence of hunger, food deprivation and circumstantial food poverty are also discussed. at long last the food expenditure piece of total consumption and the diet diversity are compared for the two sets of data. 3. FOOD SECURITY STATISTICS DERIVED USING THE LONGI TUDINAL APPROACH. a. Dietary energy consumption The average daily dietary energy consumption ( regrets) of the Tajik was 2150 kcal in 2005. The DEC by regions and income levels showed wide fluctuations over the months of the year 2005 as illustrated in fancys 1 and 2 infra.The population of the capital city Dushanbe and RPR regions had lower DEC levels than the national level during all the months of the year. These two regions had low food production as Dushanbe is the capital city and RPR is the region of aluminium ores and had to rely on food imports from other local regions or imports from neighbouring countries. However, Sogd, the industrial region and Chatlon, the cotton and wheat growing region had DEC higher than the national level al about all the months of the year.These two regions have good food availability as they contain the largest cropping areas cultivating crops such as potatoes, barley, melons, etc. Figure 1 Trends of DEC by Regions Figure 2 Trends of DEC by In come levels pic pic Analysing the DEC by daily per mortal income quintiles showed a gradual increase in the overall monthly level of dietary energy consumption from the low to the highest income population groups.The population of the three lowest income groups had DEC below the national minimum dietary energy requirement (MDER) of 1880 kcal/person/day during all the months of the year. Those of the two highest income quintiles had DEC well above the national average DEC. The fluctuations in the DEC of the four lowest income groups over the months were small and less irregular than those observed among regions. However, the highest income population group had more pronounced fluctuations which unbroken increasing over the months with peaks in defect and October.The dietary energy consumption among the Tajik population related more to income levels than place of residence. The levels of DEC for the population of the first four income quintiles did not differ greatly in magnitud e. The average daily per person income ranged from 0. 91 Somoni for the lowest quintile to 1. 91 Somoni for the fourth one while the highest quintile had a much higher average of 3. 20 Somoni. This group of high income population which were present in all the four regions may probably influence those observed fluctuations.March and October 2005 were the two months registering high peaks in dietary energy consumption, probably linked to national socio-cultural or religious events. More than 90 percent of Tajiks are Sunnis and were most probably fasting in October 2005 which was the month of Ramadan in Tajikistan. It is a well known fact that during that special religious month, there is a high science and consumption of food in terms of both quality and quantities particularly among the high income levels households.In addition, there is much sharing of food among the community with a large part of food given away by households and at the same time received by other households. Howe ver, the recording of such data on food transfers did not take place, thus leaving its effect unknown. b. Food expenditure The national average daily per person monetary values of the food expenditure fluctuated over the months of the year with the lowest value (1. 12 Somoni) in February and the highest value (1. 68) in October when there was that overall high level of consumption.The analysis by regions showed that the population of Dushanbe had a relatively low level of dietary energy consumption, but food expenditure higher than the national level indicating that prices in the capital city were higher than in other parts of Tajikistan probably due to a high importation of food products from other regions or countries. The industrial region of Sogd showed a high level of food expenditure ranging from 1. 17 to 1. 61 Somoni slightly higher than the average food spending in Dushanbe. The population of RPR had the overall lowest food expenditure (Figures 3).Figure 4 shows the monthly trends of food expenditure by income levels. Again the hierarchical differences from highest to lowest income quintile are clearly observed. Food expenditures for the population of the three lowest income quintiles were lower than the national level for all the months of the year. The amount of money spent on food remained at almost the same levels, but with an increase in October followed by a come in November and another increase in December probably due with the end of the year celebrations events.The population of the highest income quintile had increasingly high food expenditures with peaks in the three last months of the year of 2005. Figure 3 Trends of food expenses by Regions Figure 4 Trends of food expenses by Income levels pic pic Figure 4 shows the monthly trends of food expenditure by income levels. Again the hierarchical differences from highest to lowest income quintile are clearly observed.Food expenditures for the population of the three lowest income quintiles we re lower than the national level for all the months of the year. The amount of money spent on food remained at almost the same levels, but with an increase in October followed by a decrease in November and another increase in December probably due with the end of the year celebrations events. The population of the highest income quintile had increasingly high food expenditures with peaks in the three last months of the year of 2005. c. Dietary unit valueThe national average dietary unit value was 0. 57 Somoni per 1000 kcal. This value varied from 0. 55 Somoni for the months of February and March to 0. 63 Somoni in December. The population of the capital city Dushanbe had the highest dietary energy unit value over all months of the year of 2005, paying abnormal high values in the months of January (0. 71 Somoni) and October (0. 75 Somoni). Population of Sogd had also a high overall dietary energy unit value which change magnitude slowly over the months of 2005 (see Figure 5).It is s urprising to note that the dietary unit value fell in all regions in the month of November before going up again in December. This could probably be due to a pivot in food prices resulting in a surplus of food items on the market due to the end of the religious month of October. Figure 5 Dietary energy unit value by Regions Figure 6 Dietary energy unit value Income levels pic pic The dietary energy unit value showed label increasing patterns over the months of the year when analysed by income levels with again a drop in the values in November followed by an increase in December. The lowest quintile population had an overall yearly dietary energy unit value of 0. 49 Somoni compared to a value of 0. 66 Somoni for the highest income quintile. d. Diet Diversity The share of total large large calories of nutrients in total calories of dietary energy showed a protein deficiency diet when compared to the WHO norms (Figure 7). The share contribution of protein was around nine percent, while the Figure 7 Share (%) of nutrients in total calories and WHO guidelines WHO minimum and maximum values are 10 and 15 percent respectively. The share contribution of fats was within the WHO norms, but the share contribution of carbohydrates (70 percent) was more towards the maximum value of 75 percent.Consumption of protein food sources such as pulses, fish, meat or dairy products were very low. pic The regional analysis of the share of protein calorie contribution to total calories is given in Figure 8 and showed large and uneven variations were observed among the regions over the months of the year.The population of Dushanbe were more protein deficient (almost below 9 percent in all months except July to September) than other regions while the population of RPR had relatively, though still deficient, higher protein consumption. There were two months (July and September) when there was increasing protein consumption in all regions probably due to availability of protein rich food products coming from the harvest seasons.There was no clear difference in the level of protein consumption among population groups of different income levels over the months of the year (Figure 9), except that all income groups showed the same increasing patterns over the months of July and September, before falling down in October. This situation could be the due to the scarcity of high protein food products on the Tajikistan markets or highly prohibitive selling prices if available.Figure 8 Share of protein calorie by Regions Figure 9 Share of protein calorie by Income levels pic pic e. Inequality. The distribution of dietary energy consumption is assumed to be lognormal and its variance is a guide of the Coefficient of Variation (CVx). This CVx includes income and biological sources of variations of dietary energy consumption and is a measure of access to food.The biological variation (CVr) accounts for factors such as sex age composition, body weight and phy sical activity of household members. The CVr is estimated as a value of 20 percent. Figure 10 CV of dietary energy consumption due to income by 2005 quarters and Figure 10 gives the inequality of food access due to income months computed for groups of households classified according to the income deciles.The national CVx of dietary energy consumption (DEC) on yearly basis had a value of 30 percent which included a value of 22 percent corresponding to the CV of DEC due to income.The CVx values estimated for quarterly data differed marginally from the yearly CVx. The estimated monthly CVx was less than the yearly CVx, except for the months of October and November. pic A striking observation is that the monthly inequality measures of DEC due to income were in most cases (except the three last months) less than the quarterly or yearly values which are inflated with other variations due to inter household, seasonal (within quarter) and other non stochastic factors.Those v ariations were analysed using the available 2005 longitudinal food data with surrounded by household factors of area of residence and income using a additive model of the log of dietary energy consumption with repeated measures (months). The analysis of variance results are shown below. pic The variation estimates in the rightmost column have been born-again to the original dietary energy consumption scale for better understanding.As expected area of residence (rural and urban) and income levels (deciles) were large sources of the between household variation (standard difference of opinion of 2062 Kcal/ person/ day).This variation reflects sources of variations not included in the model, the random variation and the undesirable variation due to sampling design and instrumental errors.The within sources of variation were significant in time (months) and time within area of residence and time within income levels. The within household variation (standard deviation of 608 Kcal/person/day) was smaller than the between household variation. However there is a significant source of variation due to seasonality. In this study one should take into account that the between household variation estimates may be over-estimated as result of the sampling design.This study does not address on this design effect on the variation between households. In commonly used household survey design where the household reference period is of one month or less and households are allocated over a one-year survey period the sources of the within variation (month, month within area, month within income and error) is added to the survey estimates. This means that in NHS considering random allocation throughout the year add variation to the between household CV and hence over-estimate the prevalence of food deprivation. f. Food deprivation.The longitudinal data of Tajikistan 2005 HBS was also analysed by comparing the food deprivation over the four quarters to study the f ood consumption distribution and any improvement in the level of undernourishment over the one year period. Four percent of the population had moved out from the food deprived population over the year due to a 2 percent increase in the average daily dietary energy consumption and a three percent point decrease in the coefficient of variation (CV) due to income from 31 to 28 percent. The MDER of 1880 kcal/person/day was the same for both quarters.Movements of population from food deprived population were observed in both urban and rural areas by two and six percent respectively. There were marginal increases in DEC were noted in both urban and rural areas, but the later registered a significant 5 percentage point decrease in the CV due to income. While there were significant improvements among the population of the three lowest income quintiles, there were small set backs for the populations of the two highest quintiles groups due mainly to an around 2 percent fall in their dietary e nergy consumption (Figures 11 and 12).Figure 11 Food deprivation (%) by RegionsFigure 12 Food deprivation (%) by Income levels pic pic The prevalence of food critical poverty which measures food income deprivation showed a marginal fall of 1 percentage point at national level from quarter one to quarter 4 of the year 2005 (Figure 13).Figure 13 Food critical poverty (%) by quarters of 2005 national and sub national levels pic The prevalence of critical food poverty fluctuated over the four quarters of the year.There was a high prevalence of food poverty in the reciprocal ohm quarter at the national and sub national levels. It then fell in the following quarters. However, food critical poverty in urban areas was higher than rural areas due to the food availability at lower prices. g. Depth or Intensity of Food Inadequacy Figures 14 and 15 below show the depth of food poverty with relation to the MDER over the four quarters of the year, at the national and sub nat ional levels and by income levels respectively. The Figures show that urban areas which had a low DEC had a higher food shortage than the national and rural areas. The food deficit was less in the fourth quarter at the national level and in urban and rural areas. This was also true for the income levels due to the high level of DEC observed as from October 2005.There was a general high food deficit during the third quarter in almost all the regional or economic population groupings and the high income group witnessed a food deficit of about 150 kcal/person/day. Figure 14 Food deficit (Kcal) to MDER Regions Figure 15 Food deficit (Kcal) to MDER Income levels pic pic h. Food shareThe share of food expenditure to total consumption expenditure estimated from the annual household data at national level was 69 percent. The share of food expenditure at national level showed an erratic trend over the four quarters of the year 2005. From a level of 68. 4 percent in the first quarter, it in creased to 69. 6 percent, fell down to 65 percent in the third quarter and rose to 65. 3 percent in the last quarter. The same patterns occurred in urban and rural areas, but with higher magnitude in rural areas and lower values for urban areas (figure 18).However, the food share showed a decreasing trend over the four quarters with increasing income levels with a high food share (80 percent) among the population of the low income group to about 50 percent for those of the highest income group. The second quarter had the maximum food share in most of the population groupings (Figure 19) which could be a period of harvest of some food crops. Figure 16 Food expenditure share by Region Figure 17 Food expenditure share by Income levels pic pic Figures 18 and 19 illustrate the share of dietary energy consumption by food sources at national and sub-national levels and by income levels respectively for the four quarters of 2005. Purchase was almost the only source of dietary energy consum ption for the population of the urban regions, while own production food constituted a significant share of DEC to the order of about 40 percent in most of the other population groupings. There was little variation in own production contribution between the quarters, apart from some high share in quarters one and four for the high income level groups, probably due to the harvesting season.Figure 19 Share of DEC by food sources & Figure 18 Share of DEC by food sources & Regions Income levels pic pic 4. CONCLUSION The analysis of the longitudinal food consumption data of Tajikistan 2005 HBS provides some useful and pertinent characteristics of food security statistics Food deprivation differed by seasons and by income levels. Food consumption is seasonal and is influenced by national ocio-religious events. Food demand was high in high income levels during specific periods. Dietary energy unit value differed with seasons and income levels. Diet consumption of nutrients was affec ted over the seasons. Food consumption from purchases were not affected by seasons while that from own production varied over the months of the year. There was a seasonal affect on the diet consumption of nutrients Food inequality or access measures were low when estimated with monthly data and the use of more aggregated data caused overestimation. The intensity of hunger differed by season and income levels Food share varied with seasons and level of income. REFERENCES 1. FAO (2003). Methodology for the measurement of food deprivation. Statistics Division, Food Security Statistics. Rome. functional at the Metadata of the Food Security Statistics webpage http//www. fao. org/faostat/foodsecurity/index_en. htm 2. FAO (2006). Food Security Statistics Module, Step 1 Processing User Manual, Step 2 Analysis User Manual and Step 3 Reports User Manual, FAO July 2006. . Sibrian R Ramasawmy S and Mernies J (2007). Measuring hunger at sub national levels from household surveys using th e FAO approach MANUAL. FAO Statistics Division Working Paper Series No. ESS/ESSA/005e. Available at the webpage. http//www. fao. org/es/ess/faostat/foodsecurity/Papers_en. htm . 4. Tajikistan Food Insecurity Assessment report derived from the food consumption data of Tajikistan 2005 HBS, Dushanbe August 2007. http//www. stat. tj/english/home. htmpic